Lyrics, Poems, Stories, and Other Shiny Things.

On Writing, Part 01

Why do I write? I don’t really have anything great to say. No epic Shakespearean Sagas to tell, Mark Twain’s blood doesn’t flow through my veins. I’ve no vision of being a multimillion bestseller like Stephen King, from whom I borrowed the title, by the way. My writing has improved over the years but I doubt I’ll ever write something on par with my favorite lyricist, Tom Waits. So why do I write?

I love words. I love the challenge of using familiar words in new and creative ways. I love learning new words and phrases to expand my vocabulary and finding new ways to use those shiny new words and phrases.

Reading is a special kind of magic which many are familiar with. Many people have lost themselves for hours or even days within the pages of a good book. A brilliant piece of writing can whisk you away to a new world. It can introduce you to new friends. You can fall in love with people and places you’ve never seen before. It can inspire you to try new things in life and motivate you to be a better person. In short, reading can be therapy, medicine, friendship, and magic all in one.

Writing is, to me anyways, sort of the next step in the process; a natural extension of reading. As I’ve read different novels, heard different lines from songs, I’ve found myself admiring certain lines. Certain well crafted phrases stand out, sometimes entire story ideas are so great they stagger me. I just think “How in the world did they come up with THAT?”. I’ve written a bit since I was young, but listening to good lyricists and reading well written novels, poems, etc… motivate and inspire me to keep writing and strive for improvement.

I write number one for myself though I would be a liar if I said I didn’t enjoy others reading my “work”. After all, if this were the case I’d not share it, just lock it in a trunk somewhere. It’s a nice feeling to get a reaction. To know you’ve affected someone’s life, even if it’s in a small way. Criticism is also nice; if the only thing I ever heard was “Dude, your writing rocks!” there wouldn’t be a lot of outside incentive to try harder the next time. But I’ve gotten a bit long winded here. I could go on all day which is why I titled this Part 01 but I think the original question I asked was why do I write?